


into your eyes, tonight

by takumicore



Category: JO1 (Japan Band)
Genre: Fluff, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Pining, also known as "so... what are we?", and the thrilling sequel late night cuddling, based on sukai's birthday zoom because i still think about it sometimes, briefly lightly implied (legal) drinking and ynrk doing questionable activities, established ambiguous relationship, no beta because much like sukai i have no friends, yona ruki and mame appear for half a second each
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24651550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takumicore/pseuds/takumicore
Summary: the caption is filled with english that he doesn’t quite get, so he looks at the pixelated screenshot attached instead, and-oh.it’s a pack of pink kitkats, the ones takumi was showing off during their haphazardly thrown together zoom meeting for sukai’s birthday earlier today, but what makes his brain short-circuit is the writing on them.ren-kun notice this -_-
Relationships: Kawanishi Takumi/Kawashiri Ren, a hint of ynrk
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	into your eyes, tonight

in general, their company tells them to avoid reading comments. that it’s more harm than good, that they’re all young, that they have staff keeping an eye out if there’s anything fans really liked or that needs addressing. and, yeah, ren technically agrees, but people do say that forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, and their group is kind of lacking in the brain cell department anyway.

so it's kind of a given, really, that almost all of them end up looking through social media and sending silly edits or memes into the group chat. ren himself has a few accounts, all default profile pictures and nonsensical names so he can secretly bookmark tweets and create collections of posts for each member. he even has a folder on his phone with all the flower pictures jams posted for him a while back – it’s endearing how quickly they hop onto things to post or trend.

(except their infinity challenge.

 _especially_ their infinity challenge.

he needs to post something in a few days to make jams feel bad about not participating.)

out of the eleven of them, mame is the nosiest – much to their leader’s exasperated dismay – and always manages to find the most obscure posts to tease them about. which is why ren’s not surprised when his phone pings with a message from their youngest just as he’s getting settled into bed.

[22:31] _mameshiba:_ uncle! look at this (*´∪`) [ _link_ ]

 _uncle._ ren feels his eyelid subtly twitch. mame’s been coming out of his shell recently and becoming more comfortable with all of them, which was cute at first, but now it’s just a dreadful reminder of how time stops for no one.

[22:32] _renren:_ Ill give you uncle!! >:(

[22:32] _renren:_ Whats that?

[22:33] _mameshiba:_ you should see urself!! gnight!!

[22:34] _renren:_ Wow

[22:34] _renren:_ Fine

[22:34] _renren:_ Good night, you big baby

[22:35] _mameshiba:_ im not a baby (๑•̀д•́๑)

ren would argue otherwise, as would just about _everyone_ that knows mame, but he’s kind of curious about the twitter link. the caption is filled with english that he doesn’t quite get, so he looks at the pixelated screenshot attached instead, and-

oh.

it’s a pack of pink kitkats, the ones takumi was showing off during their haphazardly thrown together zoom meeting for sukai’s birthday earlier today, but what makes his brain short-circuit is the writing on them.

_ren-kun notice this -_-_

he sits up in his bed, blinking at his phone in disbelief. there’s a bunch of retweets and replies, some poking fun at how unsubtle it is (he and ruki spent a long and eventful evening trying to figure out what “in front of my salad?” refers to, and they regret all of it), others jokingly feeling bad for takumi, others speculating what this could’ve been about. and in the middle of it is ren, a dumbass extraordinaire, who simply _hadn’t noticed_. in his defence, the quality of most of their webcams is awful at best and takumi seems unaware of the concept of decent lighting, but- still. with the amount of attention he pays to takumi on a daily basis, it’s almost funny how he managed to miss something as obvious as this.

it’s already reasonably late, and takumi’s been trying to fix his sleep schedule (emphasis on trying – they’ve stayed up late gaming with the others, like mame or sho, more times than they’d admit) before preparations for their next release bite them in the ass, but he tries messaging anyway.

[22:44] _renren:_ Takumi-kun

[22:44] _renren:_ Are you asleep already?

[22:45] _renren:_ Taaakumiiiiii-kuuuuuuuuuun

[22:46] _renren:_ Takkun?

[22:47] _kobikobi:_ hm?

got him.

it’s a small thing ren has realised recently; takumi rarely reads their group chat, but he still checks his notifications, and calling him _takkun_ always gets him to reply. it’s cute, really.

[22:47] _renren:_ Mind if I drop by your room?

[22:48] _kobikobi:_ now??

[22:48] _kobikobi:_ did something happen?

[22:48] _renren:_ No!! Just wanted to see you, I guess,,

he can’t exactly say _i feel bad for accidentally ignoring you_ , can he? well, ok, he can, but he doesn’t want to do it through _text_ – maybe he’s a bit old-fashioned in some regards, sue him.

the typing bubble appears and disappears a few times and ren wonders if maybe he shouldn’t have, maybe he should wait until tomorrow-

[22:50] _kobikobi_ : oh

[22:51] _kobikobi_ : door’s unlocked

-nevermind. ren’s out of bed almost immediately, slipping on a hoodie and slippers before quietly leaving his room. while he shuffles upstairs to takumi’s door, he hears faint guitar and singing coming from sho’s room.

(and if it’s not sho singing, well, ren will pretend he doesn’t hear it. it’s nice to see their leader put his guard down a bit and rely on them, even if it’s mostly on ren, junki, and – of course – ruki. their fans find their married couple bickering cute too, which is not at all used to tease them relentlessly in the group chat, not at _all._

ren does wish they’d be a little more subtle in the dorms, though; he’s ran into ruki leaving sho’s room at odd hours of the morning with dishevelled hair and red ears enough times for ren to be _concerned_. )

he softly knocks twice on takumi’s door and lets himself in, shutting it behind with a click that sounds almost too loud.

“takumi-kun?”

in the dim light, a pink mop of hair pops out from beneath the comforter and _god_ , ren is so filled with affection his heart clenches. he’s suppressing a smile when he slides into bed next to takumi, legs comfortably tangling as they shuffle closer. it’s an easy routine they’ve settled into over the past few weeks after takumi _finally_ let him inside his room; quiet and cosy, a short break from everything chaotic going on in their life since the show started airing all the way back in september. in a cheesy, corny way, it almost feels like home, and ren feels his shoulders relax. how tense has he been?

it’s takumi who breaks the silence first, fiddling with ren’s fingers.

“something wrong?”

 _oh_. right. he’s actually come here for a reason.

“mame sent me something,” he pauses, then quickly continues when takumi’s eyes widen in alarm, “nothing bad! just a screenshot from the zoom meeting.” one that had ren’s mind racing, but alas.

“was it junki-kun using my school photo as his background?” his voice is laced with fond exasperation; all of them have more or less cursed predebut photos (or videos – ruki and sho are the biggest offenders), but for some reason takumi’s lack of hair manages to come up in their chat at _least_ weekly.

“no, but that was cute,” ren hums, “it was your kitkats, actually. the- the pink ones?”

takumi blinks at him like a deer caught in headlights, then _pouts_ , bottom lip jutting out and ren wants to Scream with a capital S. but he’s a considerate dormmate, as his mother raised him, so he counts to five in his head and continues.

“sorry for not noticing, takkun,” the nickname rolls easily off his tongue and he can see the tips of takumi’s ears turn red, bright even against the backdrop of his faded pink (almost blond) hair, “did you want anything?”

“no, i- not really, i guess. was just wondering if you’d see,” takumi says, stumbling over words, and ren thinks _oh, he was asking for attention_. for someone so charismatic and eye-catching on stage, behind-the-scenes takumi is surprisingly more subdued and private. and maybe because of that ren is still proud he (…and ruki) is the only one allowed in takumi’s room. maybe. just a little. “but i guess you need better glasses?”

ren pauses and gives him a look of mock-offense, gasping in scandalised disbelief when takumi’s pout turns into a lopsided grin.

“first of all, _rude_ , takkun. and to think i was worried you might’ve been sulking or something,” his tone sounds convincingly joking enough that if takumi hears any actual concern, he pretends not to hear it, “second of all, only if you come with me to help pick the frames.”

takumi laughs at that, laced with sleep and exhaustion but still bright and cheerful and ren is so, so fond it’s sickening. if anyone had told ren a few months back he’d be sharing a bed, in an atmosphere so domestic all he’d feel is a churning in his stomach that he’s certain isn’t a bad case of indigestion, with someone who had built a _pillow_ _wall_ between them last time they shared a room, he would have laughed. and yet here he is, doing exactly that, and hell still hasn’t frozen over.

(ren wonders if it will freeze over before the two of them talk about… _them_. it’s kind of complicated.

he tried asking sho for advice once – _how did you and ruki-kun get together?_ – but sho’s panicked, flustered look quickly made him realise he’s not the only one struggling. the limbo between not-dating and dating is a hard, draining place to be and ren might’ve taken a lot of risks in the past, but he’s hesitant to cross this line. he tells himself it’s for the sake of the group, while sho asks if it’s not a fear of rejection, and they both sadly clink glasses to that.)

“i’d try to pick the ugliest ones, but you’d probably look good in those too. it's kind of unfair,” takumi teases, abandoning playing with ren’s fingers in favour of pulling ren’s arm over him and cuddling closer, while ren’s thoughts start racing so fast he’s pretty sure he’s breaking _some_ sort of speed limit. as quiet as takumi tends to be in private, sometimes he just- _drops_ lines like that, _does_ things like this, so casually it gives ren whiplash.

“a compliment from produce japan’s visual centre, i’m flattered,” he finally manages to say after takumi settles down in his arms. they're barely a few centimetres apart in height but there’s something about takumi’s demeanour that makes him seem even tinier, like he’s meant to fit perfectly in ren’s arms – is he biased? he might be a little biased.

“oh, _stop,_ that was so embarrassing–“

“what was the line? are you forgetting–“

“ _stoooop_ ,” takumi whines and curls his fingers into the back of ren’s hoodie (when’d they even get there?), physically cringing at the memory, “i still can’t believe jun-kun thought of that. actually, scratch that – i can, but i can’t believe the staff made me _say_ it.”

“they made us do a lot, huh.”

“the princess visual centre…”

“i thought that was fun,” and, truthfully, it was. the few hours between practice where they could fool around with make-up, wigs, and cute clothes helped them all soothe their nerves more than any of them would be willing to admit. junki still lights up whenever anyone mentions how popular among international jams _junko_ seems to be.

(and if ren still has thoughts about the cut-out on the back of takumi’s sweater, he will keep them to himself. respectfully.)

“that’s because you were just doing the make-up,” takumi scoffs, but unfists his hands and starts absentmindedly drawing patterns on ren’s back; the feeling gives him goosebumps even through the thick material of the hoodie.

“you looked pretty,” ren tries to sound casual when he says it, the same way they call mame a baby or keigo handsome, and judging by takumi’s embarrassed huff he’s probably succeeded. it makes him grow a little bolder, a little braver, reaching to tuck some of takumi’s hair behind his ear. god, they all need haircuts; ren can’t recall the last time he’s seen syoya’s eyes. “ _you’re_ pretty.”

 _oh, shit_.

the words come out much more loaded than he intended, too emotional and heavy and too full of – _yearning_ , for lack of better word, and ren feels dread flood his veins, the weight of it all sitting on his ribs, all too familiar to the fear before each ranking, each elimination, except if he fucks _this_ up, there’s no way to start over. takumi’s looking at him, lips pressed into a thin line like he’s expecting something – or is he? for all ren knows, takumi might be thinking of a way to politely let him down, to let him know he has misunderstood all of this, and that- that’s _scary_.

“i’m sorry, i-“

“ren-kun,”

“-i shouldn’t have, that was-“

“ _ren-kun._ ”

takumi’s voice is gentle, but firm, and ren shuts up, the dull ache of anxiety heavy in his chest. when the warmth of takumi’s hands leaves his back, he’s fully bracing himself to be asked to leave and forget any of this ever happened, except then takumi’s cupping his face, and- _oh_.

they’re kissing.

he’s being kissed?

he has just been kissed.

ren’s mind comes to a screeching halt.

it’s chaste, more of a quick peck than anything, and if not for the taste of takumi’s cherry lipbalm still on his lips he’d question if it had actually happened. when his thoughts finally reboot, any remains of fear in his chest melt away like ice in the summer heat and he’s instead filled up with a warm, loopy giddiness, and the overwhelmingly loud thought of _oh, he likes me back_.

“yeah, i do,” takumi answers, voice small and bashful as he pinches ren’s cheek. “you’re so _dense_.”

he laughs in response, too head over heels to feel insulted, and leans forward for another kiss.

(when ruki wakes them up the next morning, knowingly raising an eyebrow and telling them breakfast is almost ready, ren can only sheepishly giggle and hide his face in takumi’s neck. they’ll have an interrogation to deal with later, but for now, he really just wants to keep cuddling.)

**Author's Note:**

> potentially the most self-indulgent 2k words i've written in my life
> 
> title inspired by bibi's [restless](https://youtube.com/watch?v=4QWGl_mJa2c) which i replayed endlessly writing this cheesy monstrosity, some of ren's internal rambling based on [this tweet](https://twitter.com/JO1poetry/status/1261565064630251520?s=20) and also me projecting
> 
> i hope they go grocery shopping together


End file.
